


WISP

by clockworkcorvids



Category: Original Work
Genre: Allusions to Celtic Mythology, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Gen, Screenplay/Script Format, Soul-Searching, Will o' the Wisps, planetarium - Freeform, the universe - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:29:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 749
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23240998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworkcorvids/pseuds/clockworkcorvids
Summary: A play in one scene, in which someone searches.
Kudos: 1





	WISP

**Author's Note:**

> _  
>  **DRAMATIS PERSONAE**   
>  _
> 
> _**THE MAN:** A nondescript human who is most likely of the male gender, found sitting on the bench in the planetarium with his journal. He knows he’s straining his eyes, thank you very much. Currently invested in the business of finding._
> 
> _**THE STRANGER:** Another nondescript human, gender irrelevant. They enjoy people-watching, the universe, and epiphanies.  
> _
> 
> * * *
> 
> this is purely experimental. i'm mostly posting it for archival purposes. enjoy it if you can, i suppose. :)

_[A planetarium. A map of the universe slowly revolves, projected against the walls. It flickers in and out occasionally, a reminder that it is only an imitation of the true vastness of space. A single spotlight shines down on a bench, where one MAN sits idly. He is hunched over, writing in a journal.]_

_[A STRANGER comes and joins the MAN.]_

STRANGER: Enjoying the view?

MAN: _[looking up from journal, surprised but not bothered]_ I - oh. Yes. _[laughing]_ I suppose, though not as much as I should be. _[A pause.]_ You?

STRANGER: That makes two of us. I find more interest in watching _people_ , really. Like you. Nothing personal - or, nothing personal enough to be creepy, I should say. People-watching is personal by nature.

MAN: People-watching? In a planetarium?

STRANGER: Journaling? In a planetarium?

_[The two fall into a companionable silence, each ruminating on this encounter. They are not so different, really.]_

STRANGER: You never answered my first question.

MAN: _[confidently, but still not bothered]_ Yes, I did.

STRANGER: _[obviously thinking hard about it]_ Ah, perhaps I didn’t vocalize it. I do that sometimes. Easy to get thoughts and words mixed up when you get to meditating on the uncaring nature of infinity. My question, then, is this: why are you here?

MAN: Why are any of us here? In the universe, on Earth, in this planetarium, on this bench? In this body? _[A thoughtful pause.]_ Me? I’m just looking for someone.

STRANGER: And you think you’ll find them here?

MAN: _[Slightly perturbed, holding back suspicion.]_ I think I’ll find answers. Or at least solstice. Or at least _Sol_. 

_[He looks up and off at some point in the distant universe, chuckling softly. The laugh quickly fades into a blank, rather dead look, as if he is internally emulating Prince Hamlet.]_

_[The STRANGER hums softly.]_

_[There is silence.]_

MAN: _[looking abruptly back at the STRANGER, examining them closely.]_ What, are you going to turn and tell me you are the person I’m looking for, long-lost, that you’ve faked your death and undergone drastic cosmetic surgery following an unspeakably horrific accident, and you know I might not recognize you but you know who I am? _[Having said all this in the span of a single breath, he quickly breaks off and inhales.]_ That we’ll remember each other, even after the sands of time have blown us miles apart?

_[The STRANGER looks searchingly at the MAN, smiling lightly, and it is a testament to their will that, if they are taken aback, they do not show it at all.]_

STRANGER: No. I’m just a stranger. A passerby. Another mote of dust on the universe’s eyelash. A messenger, if you will. 

_[The universe flickers with particularly noticeable aggression. The spotlight seems to take on a more saturated tone for a moment, and then changes to be slightly dimmer than its previous state. The MAN blinks away his disorientation. The STRANGER remains unfazed.]_

_[The MAN looks down at his journal again. He scribbles something down, squinting at the page.]_

STRANGER: You’re going to strain your eyes like that.

MAN: _[Still writing, and very obviously straining to see the page.]_ And you won’t, trying to make our faces in the dark?

STRANGER: Not as much. Sometimes it’s easier to just see people than to see their words. And anyhow, do as I say, not as I do. Or something like that.

MAN: I’d argue that the inverse is sometimes true. The inverse of your first statement, that is. Sometimes it’s easier to just see the words and not the person behind them. 

STRANGER: The goal, then, would be to find a balance of both. Seeing the words and the person.

MAN: Maybe. My goal involves finding...things. People. Both. Neither. A person, specifically. Some words would be nice, too, if I could find the right ones. _[He pauses.]_ I suppose I’m just finding. 

_[Another pause. Both look up at the universe, and preferably not at the spotlight.]_

STRANGER: Good luck, I suppose. _[They make to get up, and hesitate as the MAN replies.]_

MAN: I don’t believe in luck. Only chance. 

STRANGER: _[Finally standing all the way up, straightening their posture]_ Well. Then. May the stars align at the right time, I suppose. If you count, the numbers might just be in your favor.

_[The universe flickers again. The spotlight begins to flicker and dim as well, and eventually goes dark. The universe comes into brighter focus again, and is the only thing visible.]_


End file.
